


sweet as green apples

by wintercreek



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Community: fic_promptly, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-25
Updated: 2011-02-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 22:43:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/165614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wintercreek/pseuds/wintercreek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen isn't surprised when the candy arrives at her desk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sweet as green apples

Gwen isn't surprised when the candy arrives at her desk. It's lavish, of course, fine chocolates and exquisite marzipan creations. She's examining the perfect little green apples when Morgana squeals right in her ear.

"Oooooo!" she cries. "From Arthur?"

"Yes." Gwen nods, biting her lip, and adds, "He shouldn't go to all the trouble, really, but it is sweet."

Morgana smirks. "No pun intended," she says dryly.

They open the chocolates when they've cooed over the marzipan menagerie and fruit basket. Gwen's happy to share with Morgana; as lovely as the chocolate is, she doesn't want to spoil her lunch. She's meeting Arthur at the new Italian place.

"Gwen," Morgana says, "what's this?"

It's a roll of Love Hearts. Gwen frowns at them. "That's odd. Maybe they're for someone else?" She can't imagine why Arthur would send her candy she doesn't care for when he's so obviously picked everything else out specially for her.

Morgana shrugs and opens the roll, eating one heart and then making a face. "Ugh, chalky. They're always more fun to read than to eat." She pulls some into her palm and picks them up, one at a time.

Gwen turns back to her computer, wanting to finish her emails before lunch.

"Um," Morgana murmurs. "You might want to see this."

"What?" Gwen looks over and sees that Morgana's dumped all the conversation hearts out on to the desk and sorted them into piles. "Oh, Morgana, you've made a mess!"

Morgana points to the hearts. "Never mind that. Look at these!"

Looking closer, Gwen sees that there's something strange about the hearts: they're in five piles, and each pile is of hearts with a single word. Morgana has helpfully arranged them to make the most likely sentence.

WILL. YOU. MARRY. ME. GWEN?

"I– I–" Gwen stutters. "I have to go, don't I?"

Morgana beams at her and pulls her in for a quick hug. "Go, sweetheart! And congratulations to you both."

And with that, Gwen's out the door and down the stairs. She bursts out into the courtyard and there is Arthur, sitting on the rim of the fountain. Gwen has a flash of him in the same place that summer, drops of flying water shining like his golden hair. He'd been laughing and relaxed, then. Now he's sitting stiffly, posture perfect, and Gwen knows that it's the only tell for how nervous he must be feeling.

She throws herself into his arms, laughing and crying and gasping, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Arthur twirls them around, Gwen's feet coming off the ground, and when they stop spinning he kisses her until the world spins in another way. Then they take each other's hands and start walking back to Gwen's office so she can clock out properly for lunch. Fortunately, Morgana understands the circumstances. She's probably watching from the window upstairs.

"You know," Arthur says conversationally, as though they weren't both grinning uncontrollably, "I think I'd like something sweet before lunch. I wonder if anyone around here has any candy they might like to share?"

Gwen pulls a tiny green apple from her pocket and holds it out to him. "I suppose what's mine is yours now," she tells him.

Arthur takes the apple and turns it over. "Well this must be serious. I know these are your favorite."

"Yes," she says somberly. "Although I've the strangest fondness for Love Hearts, lately."

"Good," Arthur chuckles. "Because you'll never guess how many I had to buy to get them custom printed."

Gwen giggles. "Life with you, Arthur Pendragon, will never be dull."

Arthur pulls her in and kisses her temple. "No," he promises. "But I hope it will be long and sweet." He pops the apple in his mouth and smiles, eyes crinkling, as Gwen swats his shoulder affectionately and the next phase of their lives begins, just as they mean to go on.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't tell you what a relief it was to find out that Britain has Love Hearts, which are similar to the American Conversation Hearts I was originally picturing. Saved by cheap candy commonalities! However, it did mean that I had to throw away the awesome footnote I was going to use from [the NECCO website](http://www.necco.com/SweetheartMiniSite/Default.asp?Section=funfacts): "Got a special message for your sweetheart? NECCO can custom imprint Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, if you’re willing to buy a full production run – approximately 3,500 pounds of the six-flavored candies or 1.6 million individual hearts." Apparently Love Hearts are regularly customized, although one does still have to order at least 50 rolls.


End file.
